Chapter 226
I Became the Successor of the Martial God
Chapter 226.
The dimly lit office of the association.
Baek Jang-hyeon was in his office, reading articles posted online.
[Hunter Association Jeju Branch Accused of Failing to Respond Despite Knowing About S-Rank Gate on Jeju Island.]
[Breaking News. Hunter Association Jeju Branch Reportedly Discovered S-Rank Gate in the Past but Covered It Up.]
[Arrest Warrant Issued for Park Jae-mun, Leader of Jeju Branch, and Gate Task Force Department…]
The media was tearing into the Jeju branch as if they had been waiting for this moment.
The TV news was no different.
Every channel was covering the S-Rank gate incident.
"……"
Baek Jang-hyeon read every single one of those articles. And then—
"Damn it!"
He slammed his desk with all his might.
BANG!
The desk shattered with a loud crash, and the monitor on top of it tumbled to the floor.
Unable to contain his anger even after that, Baek Jang-hyeon kicked the desk.
"That bastard Park Jae-mun, that piece of trash!"
His outburst was uncharacteristic of his usual calm demeanor.
Baek Jang-hyeon exhaled sharply.
Creak.
"……"
At that moment, an employee entered the room. It was the woman who had reported to him the day before.
"Chairman, are you alright?"
"...Yeah, sorry about this. I’ll clean it up later."
"Don’t worry about it."
The employee approached and handed Baek Jang-hyeon some documents.
"Chairman, public opinion has completely shifted. Yoo Baek-jun…"
"He tried a frontal breakthrough. And it worked. I never expected it to turn out like this."
The crimes committed by Yoo Kang-ho were undeniable. Yoo Baek-jun openly acknowledged them, apologized, and attempted to push through.
And it worked.
"Tch, of all times…"
The reason was simple.
Of all times, Yoo Baek-jun had just successfully raided an S-Rank gate.
And of all things, the Hunter Association Jeju Branch had been aware of the gate’s existence but covered it up until now.
And of all places, that fact had been revealed during Yoo Baek-jun’s briefing.
"Everything… is just too coincidental."
S-Rank gates or higher are rare, appearing only a few times a year.
But when they do appear, they cause massive damage, making early response crucial.
The problem was that the Hunter Association had done nothing about this S-Rank gate.
"The news about the corruption of the Sword Saint’s family has been buried. The media isn’t covering it, and the public isn’t interested."
"...What’s the public’s reaction?"
"Since Yoo Kang-ho, the one who committed the corruption, is already dead, and the new family head, Yoo Baek-jun, has no connection to his crimes, people are being lenient."
The woman cautiously handed over the documents.
"And with the rumors circulating in the media about how Yoo Baek-jun was abused by Yoo Kang-ho since childhood…"
"Sympathy has swung in his favor?"
"...Yes."
Though it was unclear who was behind it, stories of Yoo Baek-jun’s suffering under Yoo Kang-ho before becoming the family head were spreading online.
Abuse and harsh treatment bordering on cruelty.
There was no way someone like Yoo Baek-jun could be involved in this incident. And on top of that, the S-Rank gate incident had erupted at just the right time.
"Despite the Sword Saint’s family’s successful initial response to the gate, the damage was massive. The people of Jeju are fiercely criticizing the Association."
"There were no casualties, but the property damage was significant, right? What if the Association steps in to help with recovery?"
"The Sword Saint’s family has already… And more importantly, the Jeju side is refusing, so there’s no room for us to intervene. The Sword Saint’s family has pledged to cover all necessary funds and supplies."
"Completely outmaneuvered."
Baek Jang-hyeon let out a sigh.
Just a short while ago, the media had been targeting the Sword Saint’s family. Now, they were directing their fire at the Hunter Association.
Media outlets affiliated with the Association remained silent, but the problem was the outlets supported by the Sword Saint’s family.
"The Sword Saint’s family is practically a corporate group. They have numerous subsidiary companies under their support."
"And those companies’ sponsored media outlets are bombarding us relentlessly."
"Yes. Of course, we anticipated this and prepared countermeasures. However…"
The Association also had media outlets under its influence.
The problem was that their voices were being drowned out.
All because of a single incident.
"No one could’ve predicted an S-Rank gate appearing in Jeju."
"My apologies."
"No, expecting something like this would’ve been absurd. You did nothing wrong."
The only questionable thing was—
Was this really a coincidence?
That was it.
Just as they were about to launch their planned attack on the Sword Saint’s family—
At that exact moment, the Jeju incident erupted, exposing the incompetence of the Hunter Association’s Jeju branch.
This is a coincidence? No way…
The goal of this operation had been singular.
To peel away one layer of the Sword Saint’s family’s positive image.
They never intended to topple the family—that would’ve been insane.
But we couldn’t even scratch their image. Instead, it’s the Association’s image that took a hit.
Public support was crucial for their future plans.
Now, that foundation was crumbling.
Instead, they had only succeeded in boosting their enemy’s reputation.
"Pathetic."
Far from achieving their goal, they had suffered massive losses.
Baek Jang-hyeon bit his lip.
"Continue preparing to attack the Sword Saint’s family. And bring Han Chang-woo to me."
"Yes."
The current Association lacked a figurehead.
Someone who could represent them publicly.
"Han Chang-woo will fill that role."
"Given his looks and abilities, he’s well-suited to win public favor."
"Hmm. For now, we’ll focus on Han Chang-woo and prepare to strike other guilds."
They had fumbled the first step of their plan, but they couldn’t give up.
This operation had to succeed.
The government and the Hunter Association must stand tall again. To prevent something like that from happening again…
Baek Jang-hyeon clenched his teeth.
***
Yoo Baek-jun was still in Jeju.
He was there to assist in the recovery efforts for the areas damaged by the S-Rank gate.
He had summoned the floating island to Jeju and enlisted the help of the elves.
"The ground’s caved in here!"
"With the earth spirits’ help, we can fill this in."
Using earth spirits to fill in the devastated areas first—
Then mobilizing prearranged contractors to begin rebuilding the structures.
"How long will it take to finish everything?"
"Two weeks should be enough."
"Good."
Conscious of public perception, Yoo Baek-jun personally participated in the recovery efforts.
The victims expressed their gratitude, bringing him gifts.
"Ah, thank you… Thank you so much."
"We don’t have much, but please accept this…"
"I’ll enjoy it."
Yoo Baek-jun smiled, accepting and even eating what the people offered.
The knights beside him were startled, but the gift-givers were delighted.
"F-Family Head! This rice cake is delicious!"
"Yeah, yeah, eat up."
—Nom, nom, nom!
Seol-yeong and Han Seong-ah, too.
The two were devouring piles of omegi-tteok (traditional rice cakes) with sparkling eyes.
Yoo Baek-jun chuckled.
"Family Head."
"Ah, Choi Gun-woo. How’s the work going?"
"Better than expected…"
Choi Gun-woo nodded.
"The backlash against the Association is intensifying. The rumors about our family have completely died down."
"Hmm, really?"
"Yes. The apology during the briefing seems to have had a significant impact."
Sometimes, a straightforward apology works better than excuses.
This was one of those times.
"And as you instructed, I’ve compiled a list of candidates to take over the Jeju branch."
"Let me see."
Choi Gun-woo handed him the documents.
A long list of names from the Sword Saint’s family was detailed, along with their characteristics.
"Hmm, uhh…"
After a brief moment of consideration, Yoo Baek-jun pointed at one person.
"Let’s go with this one."
"Yes, understood."
Though it might have been puzzling why he chose that person, Choi Gun-woo didn’t ask.
Yoo Baek-jun exhaled tiredly and flopped onto the ground.
This is so damn annoying.
He let out a sigh.
Ever since becoming the Sword Saint’s family head, the number of eyes on him had multiplied.
And those eyes were incredibly irritating.
But I can’t just ignore them.
As the family head, he had to care about his public image.
In fact, it was precisely because of that image that he had managed to weather this crisis so easily.
"My father never cared about the family’s image when he was the head."
"Yes. I suppose he didn’t see the need for it."
"You think so?"
Yoo Baek-jun had a different opinion.
Rather—
It’s more like he didn’t care about the family at all…
Lost in thought, Yoo Baek-jun was handed another document by Choi Gun-woo.
The one he had asked for earlier.
"The list of advertisers?"
"Yes. Some were receiving ads from the Association or its affiliated guilds. But a few were also connected to us."
These were the media outlets that had conspired with the Hunter Association to attack the family.
Yoo Baek-jun scoffed.
"Audacious bastards."
"What should we do?"
Yoo Baek-jun answered as if it were obvious.
"What do you mean? Cut all their ads."
This wasn’t something he could let slide.
For those with connections, a strong warning was necessary to ensure they never dared to pull something like this again.
"Let’s see if that proud Hunter Association can feed them."
"Understood."
Choi Gun-woo bowed and left.
He would handle the rest.
Having competent subordinates is nice.
Unlike Im Woo-do, who had served the previous family head for a long time, Choi Gun-woo was sharp and efficient.
Yoo Baek-jun liked that.
"Hmm…"
He rummaged through his dimensional storage.
Among the rewards from raiding the S-Rank gate were an S-Rank treasure chest, an S-Rank or higher skill book, and items.
"The treasure chest…"
Inside were rare S-Rank materials and potion ingredients.
One item in particular caught his eye.
"Oh, this."
Yoo Baek-jun picked it up.
It was a quill pen.
[Mystic Quill (S)]
—A single-use item created by a lazy mage.
—Can relocate pre-existing magic circles and enhance them using the quill’s power.
I can’t believe I got this.
This’ll work for the training magic circle.
The magic circle in Yoo Baek-jun’s mansion.
Though useful in the past, it was now gathering dust.
Perhaps it would be better to move it to the family’s training grounds.
It’ll help strengthen our forces.
Not a bad idea.
Yoo Baek-jun pocketed the quill.
There was one more S-Rank item—a bow, which was unfortunately useless to him.
"……"
Yoo Baek-jun stared at the bow.
"Wait, maybe it’s not useless."
A use for it suddenly came to mind.
He stored the bow in his Subspace and finally checked the skill book.
An S-Rank skill.
[Absolute Shield (S)]
—A defensive technique used by a legendary knight. Reinforces one’s shield with magic to create a massive barrier that protects all directions.
—Its defensive power is absolute.
A defensive skill.
Not bad. Though he already had Sword Barrier and Counter return, this would be more effective against wide-range attacks.
There was just one problem.
"I need a shield for this."
Yoo Baek-jun scratched his cheek.
The Sword Saint’s family techniques didn’t mesh well with shields.
If I could conjure a shield only when using this skill, that’d solve the problem.
There was a way.
Yoo Baek-jun stood up.
"Busy, busy."
He had a lot to do.